On Nov. 26, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters was crowned Miss Universe for her country South Africa.. The pageant was held in Las Vegas at Planet Hollywood. Miss Universe is a diverse pageant, with contestants coming from various countries across the globe. This was the 66th Miss Universe pageant and featured Steve Harvey and Ashley Graham as hosts.

Though many people aren’t familiar with pageants, Doctora Angie Gresmann has a lot of experience with them. Griesmann used to participate in pageants when she was younger and offers insight into a competitor’s thoughts.

“They always offered money or some sort of big prize, and that’s all I was after,” Griesmann said.

Griesmann thinks her experience and knowledge of world events and popular culture helped her to have an edge on her opponents.

“What I found was that you didn’t need to be attractive to win,” she said.

Some students feel differently about the impacts of looks in pageants. Junior Alex Corbeil says pageants might harm the contestants because of the emphasis on physical appearance.
“I think sometimes they can lower self esteem because pageants are based on looks,” Corbeil said. Greismann said she would stay inside some days to read and watch the news to be better prepared for questions. She doesn’t think anything she won was because of her physical beauty.

“There were plenty of girls that were very pretty, and they did not win,” she said.

Though pageants are extremely popular, Greismann believes they have room for improvement.

“Right now, as I grow older and I become more knowledgeable about injustices and the way people look at pageants, my whole perception about it has changed,” Griesmann said. “I don’t think [physical looks] should have anything to do with it.”

That may be easier said than done, according to Corbeil.

“I think the main draw for men to watch the pageants is if the people are attractive,” Corbeil said. “I don’t think the men actually care about the pageants themselves.”

Regardless of this, both Corbeil and Greismann agree that the diversity shown in the Miss Universe pageant was a positive thing.

“I think it’s fair to give everyone an equal chance to win,” Corbeil said.

Greismann also believes the different cultures being shown is a good thing.

“I think it’s important for the girls from their particular ethnicity to show themselves, so I think that having someone from another culture, and seeing what they are like, is important,” she said.